8 Ways to Stick to New Habits

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8 Ways to Stick to New Habits

Are you wanting to change up your habits and routine so they serve you better?

Starting a new habit is the easy part—it’s sticking to the new habit that can be a challenge.

We’ve all probably done it before. The clock strikes midnight on a new year, and suddenly you are determined to start working on all of your New Year’s resolutions. This energy might carry you through a couple of weeks, but eventually, the hype fizzles out and you return to your old ways.

If that sounds familiar, then you are not alone. This is something many of us struggle with, whether the new habits are related to a resolution or just simply are things we’d like to do…one day.

You can make “one-day” start today and continue on for as long as you’d like by implementing these 8 ways to stick to new habits.

1. Know the reason behind wanting to start the new habit

If you really want a habit to stick, then you need to have some strong justification for it.

This will help you stay motivated and on track, and it will prevent you from falling off the wagon. Just telling yourself that you should start the habit because it’s good for you is probably not enough.

Instead, develop a deeper reason for the habit.

Perhaps you want to start meditating for five minutes in the morning so you are more present and patient with your kids. You may want to run a mile every day so you can build physical and mental endurance, which can help you overcome challenges in your life.

Nail down your reason before moving forward with your habit.

2. Start with one small habit

It’s easy to want to start changing up all your habits at once, but that could get really overwhelming really quickly.

Instead, start with a small one. Once you find success with this habit and master it, then you can add on another one. 

For example, when it comes to your dental health, you can start with simple things like brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing every night. Then, once those are incorporated into your routine, you can go one level up and start visiting a professional like this dentist in Henderson regularly.

When you are able to master one small habit, you will gain confidence and realize that you are capable of sticking to them.

Implementing this small one into your daily life will become a disciplined routine, and you will learn strategies to incorporate for the next new habit you’ll develop.

Related Reads:

• 8 Ways to Be Consistent With Your Morning Routine
• How to Let Go of Self-Doubt and Chase Your Dreams
• 12 Habits That Are Making You Less Productive
• 5 Ways to Stay Focused on Your Goals

3. Focus on the end feeling and result

New habits can be hard, especially when they push you outside of your comfort zone and don’t come naturally for you.

Instead of putting all your energy and attention towards how hard it is to start, think about the end result.

How will this new habit make you feel after you implement it today?

How will you feel after implementing it for a month? What about a year?

For example, going outside for a run every morning can be hard. Stopping the alarm and getting out of bed early in the morning is hard. Changing out of pajamas and into athletic clothes is hard.

Instead of focusing on the hard, focus on how accomplished you will feel afterward. Think about how clear your mind will be. Think about how great the endorphins will make you feel.

4. Have an accountability partner

Accountability is super important in a lot of different areas of your life, but it is especially important when you are starting something new.

If you don’t have any accountability for your new habit, then you may not think twice about blowing it off on a tough day. A partner will help you stay on track.

Who can be your accountability partner?

The best-case scenario is they are also starting the new habit with you. If you want to start going for a run in the morning before work, you will be much more successful if you know your friend is going to show up on your doorstep in running shoes at 7 am.

You can also have a trusted and supportive family member or friend as your accountability partner, and they can hold you accountable with a simple text each day.

You can also serve as your own accountability partner by keeping a daily tracker sheet handy for yourself.

5. Make decisions based on your future self

Instead of picturing yourself as a person who is just in the early stages of this new habit, envision yourself as the future you. This is someone who has been living out this habit for days, months, even years! 

When you picture yourself in this way and base your decisions on someone who has incorporated this habit, you are more likely to believe that that is how you think and act.

If you envision yourself as someone who runs every morning in order to feel their best physically, then you will probably make healthier decisions in the grocery store and in your everyday life.

6. Design the habit to be as easy as possible to carry out

You want to make this new habit as easy as possible for yourself.

Why? Any friction will limit your chances of actually doing the thing. You want to make this habit so easy that you don’t even think twice about doing it.

If you want to eat fruit first before anything else in the morning, get the cookies and the chips off the counter and replace them with a banana. Be sure to have the house stocked with fresh fruit that you enjoy, and limit any food that might cause you to stray from this habit.

7. Practice habit stacking

Habit stacking is a fantastic technique to try out if you struggle with sticking to new routines.

Essentially what habit stacking does is it takes your existing habits and sandwiches new ones between them. It helps you rewire your brain’s autopilot mode.

Here is how it works.

Say you want to meditate for 5 minutes every morning. Instead of just doing it whenever you think about it, look at your existing habits. You might get dressed, take out the dogs, make coffee, and eat breakfast. Incorporating stacking would look like getting dressed, taking out the dogs, meditating for 5 minutes, and then making coffee and eating breakfast.

8. Develop a reward system

Celebrating every little win is crucial, and sticking to a new habit is definitely something to celebrate!

Having this reward system in place will help you stay motivated to keep going, and it is another way to hold yourself accountable.

After one week of your habit, you may choose to have a movie night. One month into your habit, maybe you treat yourself to a spa day. After one year, perhaps you will go on a vacation.

This reward system can be big or small, but you should incorporate rewards that make you happy and excited!

You will be able to stick to new habits if you stay focused, motivated, and keep your eyes on the horizon (aka, your end result!).

If you tackle a new habit with positivity and accountability, then you are more likely to succeed. 

Final Thoughts

If you want to learn more about habits and how to start and stick to them, I highly recommend reading the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.

He dives into all of these concepts and so much more, and the book will help you feel more confident making changes in your life.

I hope you found value in these 8 ways to stick to new habits!